Django Reinhardt played his solos with two fingers. At the age of 18, in an accident in his caravan, his back and left hand was heavily burned. Being already a reputed musician, his career seemed to be over. In 2 years he recovered and developed the technique that helped him to be the best. Two physicians thoroughly analyzed his hand and according to them:

"Django’s technique was only possible because of the remarkable length and span of his index and middle fingers. Photographs show that he could play a "barre" across the full width of the fret board using just the distal two phalanges of his index finger, and a half barre with the distal phalanx of his middle finger and analysis of film footage shows that he could effortlessly span a distance of at least 120mm [4.7 inches] between the tips of his index and middle fingers."

This event is also a landmark in the history of guitar and jazz. Django created a whole new set of chords and arpeggios and became the mo…

Turner Burns is the Lead Digital Strategist at CENTURY 21 Partners Real Estate. Other general interrsts include music, photography, literature, film, social commentary, tech gadgets, gizmos, and anything else he may fee like discussing or sharing.